Clothes drier lint trap



July 7, 1953 J, ROBINSON 2,644,246

CLOTHES DRIER LINT TRAP Filed Dec. 27, 1951 a Fag-l v 4 Inv enter JohnH. Rob'lflson,

His Attorney Patented July 7, 1953 2,644,246 CLOTHES DRIER LINT TRAPJohn H. Robinson, Louisville, Ky., assignor to General Electric Company,a corporation of New York Application December 27, 1951, Serial No.263,594

2 Claims.

This invention relates to means for removing lint from clothes dryers ofthe air circulating type, and more particularly to an improved lint trapfor use in such dryers.

In most of the currently popular domestic clothes dryers, the clothesare tumbled in a motor driven drum which rotates within an enclosingcasing. The air within the casing is heated by a suitable heater and anair circulating sys tem is provided to induce or force air flow in thevicinity of the heater, usually by means of a motor driven fan. Thedryer casing is customarily provided with an intake and an outflowpassage to complete the air circulating system, and the heated air,after it has been in contact with the clothes, may discharge into theroom in which the dryer is located. Consequently, a screen or other trapis commonly employed to prevent discharge of lint with the air andvapors, but these screens, after several operations of the dryer,collect sufiicient lint to impede the free flow of air, therebymaterially reducing the drying eificiency. Frequently the operatorcontinues to neglect to clean the screen and the abnormal turbulenceresulting from faulty air circulation may then cause some of the lint tosettle on the heater or its shielding means. Even though a thermostat isprovided to disconnect the power source when the temperature reaches apredetermined level,

this thermostat may fail and the air temperature a in the casing,particularly in the vicinity of the heater, would increase sufiicientlyto cause ignition of the accumulated lint.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide means forautomatically bypassing the lint trap and simultaneously removing thelint from the screen upon a predetermined accumulation, so that the flowof air through the discharge outlet will not be impeded.

It is another object of this invention to pro vide a lint traparrangement including means for de-energizing the heater and motor upona predetermined accumulation of lint on the collecting screen.

In carrying out my invention in a presently preferred form, I provide alint trap for the discharge outlet of a clothes dryer in which theprimary lint collecting screen is pivotally mounted at opposite sides ofthe outlet duct. The pivotal support is located below the longitudinalcenter line of the dryer, as predetermined by suitable positioningmeans. position of the pivots relative to the center of the screen arecarefully calculated so that the force necessary to overcome its inertiacan be accurately predetermined. The air flow tothe outlet of the dryeris not suincient to tilt the screen forward unless either-the rate offlow is abnormal or considerable lint has accumulated on the screen.When the latter occurs, the lint screen offers suiiicient resistance tothe passage of air through the outlet duct that it is tilted forward toasubstantially horizontal position, in which position the accumulatedlint will be blown off its surface. If desired, this lint can-bepermitted to blow upon the floor in the room where the dryer is locatedthereby serving as a Warning to the housewife that too much lint waspermitted to accumulate, or, instead, a secondary screen can be added torestrain it. In the latter event, it may be desirable to provide anelectrical switch in circuit with the heating and driving means so For abetter understanding of this invention,

attention is now directed to the following description and theaccompanying drawings and also to the appended claims in which thefeatures of the invention believed to be novel are particularly pointedout. In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side sectional elevation of a clothesdryer in which my invention is shown; Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspectiveview of the lint trap of Fig. 1 with the secondary lint strainer showndisassembled from the remainder of the trap; and Fig. 3 is an enlargedperspective view of the primary lint screen and switch arrangement withthe lint screen, in its horizontal position. i

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawings, there is shown a clothes dryerof the domestic air circulating type having an outer shell consisting ofa front panel 5, a rear panel 2 provided with louvers 3, and a covermember 4. Suitable side panels, not shown, complete the outer shell. The

front panel has an opening to permit insertion and removal of clothesand is provided with a door 5 and a suitable gasket to substantiallyseal The weight of the screenand 3 the opening when the door is in itsclosed position as illustrated. An inner casing located within the outershell is provided, consisting of insulated front and rear walls 6 and l,which are usually of an inverted U-shape, and an insulated side wall andcover panel 8 wrapped thereabout to form a generally horse-shoe-shapedchamber. The front w'a1I"6 -"i"s provided with an opening in alignmentwith the opening in the shell panel 5' to provide entry to the interiorof the casing. Within the casing is a non-vertical foraminated tumblerdrum 9 suitably supported on a rear. wardly extending shaft I9 journaledinj'an aperbe predetermined by a careful choice of the weight of thescreen and the position of the pins I7 relative to the longitudinalcenter line of the screen, as well as by control of the frictional forcenecessary to turn the screen on its pivots. By careful adjustment at thefactory, the screen can be installed so that, upon a predeterminedaccumulation of lint on its inner surface, a sufficientresistance to theflow of air will result that it will tilt to the position shown in Fig.3. In

this position, the general flow of air across the ture provided for thatpurpose in'the rear wall.

7. The tumbler is provided with an opening. substantially concentricwith its horizontal so that, when the door 5 is opened, clothesv can bereadily loaded into or removed dismissal-am by the operator.

A driving motor 5 I is provided for rotating the tumb er. drum h ou ansedmeduct qn. syst m minim s n elt a d. h a es.- Or he. like. Alsoriven. by t met H. a fan 1 or dr w n ai .v hro h the ouv s 3. a d. ntc.a. ressur bQX i3. romwh chits t r wn u ward y-th ou h n tud nal l s, nshown, n the box he s de f. the, pan m mber s. and ov r and throughthetumbler drum. This air contacts and is eatedby n ect c h ater. islocated. near the top. of, the, dryer casing, t will be undertood. o cor hat h part cu a d r. t n t n sn ta art-armyinvention andmay be of anysuitable. design, such as that shown es i n tai i -myappl ca tionmedeiointly with Paul L. Paulsen, Serial No. 209,280; filed: February 3,1951, for. 8. Clothes Dryer, and assn dt the General lectr c Cempany,ass en e of the. present application,

To complete the air circulating. system. just described, an outlet ductIii is provided for discharging the exhaust air and vapor through thefront ofthe machine in thespace usuallyreferred to as the. board. area.The. duct, 55,, should. be of substantialwidth to providea minimum ofobstruction to. the fiowof air therethroughand is customarilyprovidedwith. a, lint, trap. to, prevent the clothes. lint from beingdischar'gedinto the room. In accordance. with my. invention thislinttrap includesalint screen lB-pivotally mounted-to a. pair of pins,H. in the sidewallsofthe duct. i5, sothat, when in its, vertical,position, the screen it substantially covers the entrance to theoutletduct. Thepinsi Support thescreen at, a point. below,itslongitudinalcenter, line. so that a greater screenarea is above. the pivotsthanisbelow, them, making it unstablein its up. right position. Sincethefront openingofv the duct I5 is either open, or screened .byaremovablemember, asexplained hereinafter, the .screen. it may. .be readilytiltedto. its. vertical position by. the, operator, andmeans such. as a tab l8.bent

out of the bottom of the ductmay. be used. to prevent itsbeing movedbeyond a predeterminedv angle, from the vertical. For bestresults, the

screen should be substantially. vertical ortilted slightly toward thedirection .oflairfiow duringits operation. Although. the .openings inthe screen I6 are relatively small, the largearea or" the screen. andthe number of the openings provide a'sufilciently low resistance pathfor the flow of air that'the inertia of the screen is not overcome .ofthe duct 15.

top, surface will sweep most of the lint from the screen and deposit itin the outlet duct past the screen. Ehis lint maythen be allowed to beblown into the room so that the operator will be cognizant of the needof cleaning the screen, or it may be caught by an auggiliary screen ismounted in a supporting member 20 adapted for ready re mov'al-f'andinsertion into the discharge opening The screen 19 can be removed th o etor an herefore can. easilybe cleaned. Moreover, since substantially alliw low f t e cr en It, i s nherentist self-cleaning.

th u t ne ssar er i-su ces ul u izan. of m nvl pni t-mey ome; asesbe rabe to ad xt a ai t ea re. espee. cially. e h eco dary s ree s mployed; Ifthe operatorcontinuedto neglect the. lint trap after th screen Ifi hadbecome. covered: with lint: and had tilted; h lint would: then be blownagainst thescreen. is and; although most. ofit wouldcollect along; thebottom and-ileave a com. siderable screenarea for-air flow,eventuallydint from subsequent operations. would completely. cover thesecondary-screen. In-this case,,the. cir. oulation of air; would'be.interrupted, the;.temper.-. ature and pressure withinthe casing would beelevated above the desirable limits, and the. lint.

might ignite. In order to, eliminate. this. possi-.. bility, I-haveprovided switchinglmeans including.

a switch 2! provided withapushbutton actuator 22'.

While, I-have shown aparticular embodiment;

of m invention, it will be. understood, ofcourse, that Ido not wishto.be;limited thereto since. many modifications may be. made; and I,therefore contemplate by theappendedclaims to cover any; suchmodifications as fall within the; true spirit and scope.- oi my..invention.

WhatIclaim, as. new anddesire to secure. by: Letters Patent of theUnitedstates is;

1. In a clothes dryer, an electric air heater; an

air dischargeduct, an-electricmotor, a-blower drivenv by the; motor forefiecting flow. Of -ail through said duct, 2. lint.scr-een in said duct?means pivotally mounting the screen on anaxis oifset from a central axisof the screen and tea-one side ofv the plane of the .screen whereby thescreen? is biased by its weight toward-a position-acrossthe duct, a stoponawallof the ductwithwhich the screen engages to-hold the screen insuch position against such biasing for ce, and an elec: tric controlswitch-for said heater and *inotor Theswitch ispositionedaon thebottom-of. the duct I 5. and arrangedin sucha-manner that the rim of;the screen; i fiqwill-strike. thebuttonto positioned on a wall of saidduct to be engaged by said screen when it turns on its mounting to aposition where it extends longitudinally of the duct, said switchserving also as a stop to limit turning movement of the screen, wherebywhen said screen becomes clogged with lint it will be turned by the airflow to a position in engagement with said switch to operate the switchand permit air to pass over the screen to blow lint accumulation ofi"the screen toward'the duct outlet.

2. A clothes dryer as defined by claim 1 wherein there is provided inthe duct beyond the pivoted screen as regards the direction of air flowa read- 6 ily detachable auxiliary screen for catching lint blown fromthe pivoted screen.

JOHN H. ROBINSON.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,136,645 Binder Apr. 20, 1915 10 1,427,580 Collins Aug. 29,1922 1,914,667 Kolla June 20, 1933, 2,550,118 Kauffman II Apr. 24, 19512,577,104 Butler Dec. 4, 1951

